Purchase Sweeps Men's Volleyball, 3-0

PURCHASE, N.Y. - March 8, 2019 - Despite five kills from first-year Devin Dzierba (Clarence, N.Y.), the Pratt Institute men's volleyball team were swept (25-9, 25-19, 25-14) by Purchase on Friday evening.

Dzierba finished with five kills and six digs while junior Hamza Hamdeh (New York, N.Y.) added four kills, and an ace. Setter Kris Patton (Holbrook, N.Y.) dished out a team-high eight assists to go along with three digs, and a service ace. Libero Ye Hu Hwang chipped in with four digs, a kill and an assist.

Purchase started out strong, leading 12-5, before Hamdeh recorded a kill off the set up from Patton. The hosts lead would grow to 15-6, forcing Pratt to call a timeout,  and a kill from Dzierba at 21-9 was the last points scored in the first game for the Cannoneers.The Panthers took the opening set, 25-9, off an ace from Jeremiah Huntt.

Pratt fell behind early again in the second frame, with Purchase holding an 8-2 lead. Coming out of a timeout, Hamdeh had back-to-back kills, making it 8-4. Purchase would regain momentum, and push their lead to 16-9, forcing head coach Louis Sepulveda to call another timeout. The Cannoneers would string together four unanswered points to cut into the deficit, 16-13, and following a kill from Hamdeh, and a Panthers attack error, Pratt was trailing 20-18. Purchase would eventually close out the second set on a 5-1 run, 25-19.

Purchase continued to dominate as they took a 12-5 lead before the Cannoneers were able to capitalize on Purchase errors to make it 12-7. The Panthers responded with a 7-0 run to push their lead to 19-7, before a kill from Hwang made it 19-8. Pratt continued to battle but eventually dropped the final frame, 25-14.